When I make necklaces for people I know and love, I try to find stones that not only work with the aesthetic I’m after but ones that help the person in their journey through life.
I have a necklace for a friend – I just finished it and I’m not posting pictures because it’s a surprise for her and, while I don’t think she checks this blog, I don’t want to ruin the surprise in case she does. This friend doesn’t know how to love herself. Though she is working on the issues in her past that have caused her self-loathing and a great deal of pain, and she is making progress, she still does not see her great worth and wonderful loving spirit.
So, when I sat down, not only did I say “ok, she’s not a real girly girl so I need something pretty simple”, I said “I want stones that will bolster her efforts to love herself.” And I thought we could all use some help in that regard (ok, well, there are a few people I know that don’t but I’m dead certain they don’t read this!) so I’m posting a little on the stones I used and on some others that might help that battle.
Rose Quartz
Rose quartz has got to be the most well known “love” stone. Rose quartz draws love in. It amplifies our own loving feelings. It surrounds us with love. I have a friend who had charged a rose quartz crystal to draw love and it got so intense, she had to move the crystal from her bedroom. Judy Hall, in her The Crystal Bible, has this to say about rose quartz by way of introduction: “Rose Quartz is the stone of unconditional love and infinite peace…teaching the true essence of love…[It] brings deep inner healing and self-love.” Later, she describes the use of rose quartz in learning to love oneself, saying it “teaches you how to love yourself, vital if you have thought yourself unlovable…encourages self-forgiveness and acceptance, and invokes self-worth.” “It…reinstate[s] the loving, gentle forces of self-love,” says Melody in Love Is In The Earth. You can see why a large rose quartz bead is the centerpiece of the choker.
Rhodonite
Rhodonite is less well known – both metaphysically and in the wider world – it’s an opaque medium pink stone with black inclusions. Rhodonite is useful for the underlying causes of self-loathing. Judy Hall, again: “[Rhodonite] is extremely beneficial in cases of emotional self-destruction… and abuse. [It] clears away emotional wounds and scars from the past.” Melody condenses this to “[It] conveys the resonance of unconditional love to the physical plane.” The rose quartz centerpiece is flanked by small rhodonite wheels and then 4mm rounds.
One of the other stones I considered (but didn’t including because I didn’t have any at hand) is danburite (aids in “facilitating deep change and leaving the past behind” (Hall)) in the pink variation (“…opens the heart and encourages loving oneself.” (Hall)). The sample looks very, very pretty but I have not seen it in bead form and I am not (yet) a stone faceter!
All of these stones have other metaphysical properties as well. If you’re really interested in this, I can highly recommend Judy Hall’s book (I got mine at Amazon.com) or, of course, just keep stopping back here or at Silvery Ever After occasionally!
Don’t forget that I do custom work. It’s some of the most challenging but most rewarding work I do.
I completely agree with the common belief that you can’t love another until you love yourself. It’s a long and difficult process to learn to love oneself, but I think that your friend certainly deserves it… she is so lucky to have your support! Good friends are one of the most wonderful and helpful things someone can hope for in a battle with oneself. (: